


The Hanged Man

by LavenderWine



Series: Diviner [1]
Category: Changeling (Visual Novel)
Genre: Bickering, Canon Divergent, College Setting, Esper OC, Evolving Tags, F/M, Gen, Post Game, alcohol use, lots of bickering, really lots of possible dark stuff in visions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2019-12-18 07:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18245063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderWine/pseuds/LavenderWine
Summary: Sometimes even trivial choices can lead people down radically different paths. For Claire that choice was taking Chemistry.





	1. Chapter 1

When Claire came to sit next to Marc Loewe in Chemistry, she had believed fortune had become her friend. He had initially seemed very quiet and like he wouldn’t bother her, which was a stroke of pure luck to her after her failed attempts to take the course online. Not only had he been quiet, he seemed to intimidate away most of the other students from the table. In fact the only people who dared to approach at all were some girls that were vying for his attention. Efforts that he quickly shut down with a startling bluntness. It was everything she needed from a classmate that sat next to her and from her partner in school work.

She knew it was too good to be true.

“How is it that you are struggling with even the most basic of concepts?”

Turned out Miss Fortune had a sense of humor.

Claire pinned him with a glare, turning away from her notes, “Same way you came about your overwhelming **charm**.”

“My charm would be wasted on someone so simple minded.”

“Can’t waste something you never had…” she muttered into her thermos, taking a long draw from her coffee before looking back to her notes.

“What was that?”

“I said I can’t hear you over all of that pretentious bullshit.” she scribbled the next equation she had to solve onto the paper, “Can we get back to the assignment now? Or are you still on a roll for talking about how “superior” you are?”

“From the looks of things, only one of us is actually capable of doing the assignment.”

“And from the looks of things only one of us is capable of actually focusing on it.” Claire retorted, her patience rapidly evaporating into thin air.

Two weeks and he was insufferable. Already she wondered if she made a mistake picking him. Marc was cantankerous, irritating and annoyingly full of himself. And the fact that the other girls in class gravitated towards him was even more irksome for her. Claire often found people confusing and could not understand them on some of her best days but her brusque classmate really took the cake.

“Are you under the misguided idea that you are the one capable of focusing on it?”

An annoyed sigh escaped her, “Are you seriously asking that? Who started this conversation? You did. Who is continuing it? You are. Do you really want me to pack up my stuff and leave?”

Marc narrowed his eyes, “Are you really so childish to storm away from legitimate criticism?”

Claire had enough. She took advantage of the fact that they had found an empty classroom for him to start tutoring her and threw her pen at him. Which he dodged. And instantly regret surged through her because that was her only pen.

“Was that display worth it?” he asked with disdain.

“It might have been if it had hit you…”

A small smirk played on his mouth, “I wouldn’t hold my breath for that if I were you.”

She glared at him before looking over to her pen on the floor across the room. When she looked back at him, his expression was annoyingly smug and she debated heavily with herself on whether she was going to try and carry on without it. Claire checked her bag to double check if she had a spare but turned up empty handed.

Marc’s smirk widened slightly as he clicked his pen a few times, “Are you planning to solve these molar conversions without a pen? You are struggling enough as is.”

The urge to argue was strong in her but she realized that he wanted to goad her here. She gave him a blank stare before deflating and rising to retrieve her pen. When she sat back down, his smirk lingered for a bit longer before vanishing all together and suddenly he was all business.

“Are you quite finished?”

‘This is going to be a very long semester.’ she thought in agony.

 

xxxxxx

 

Claire may not have been very immersed in the Cryptic world but it had only taken her a few days before her intuition started nudging at the edge of her subconscious. It whispered that Marc was not human although it provided her no answers on what he actually was. All she knew was that he was a Cryptic but she wasn’t sure if she could ask. She avoided people, both human and Cryptic, for a reason. Hauling her book bag even higher up her shoulder, she entered the classroom, bracing herself for another day of Marc giving her grief.

But this time he was not alone.

There was a girl there, leaned over, and Claire instantly recognized her from their Chemistry lecture. Emily was her name and she was stunning. All long legs, lean frame with waves of dyed blonde hair rolling down her back. Irritation pricked at Claire when she noticed she was leaning over the table to try and draw attention to her breasts in front of Marc. It was enough for her to eye the entire scene with disdain.

But that irritation melted into amusement when she caught the look on her partner’s face. If he had swallowed an entire lemon on the spot it would still have produced a happier expression than what he had. It was almost entertaining enough for her to stand back and watch while Marc dealt with her. As tempting it was, she decided that it was best to intervene before he got too angry (and then later took it out on her).

Claire cleared her throat from the door. Emily rounded on her abruptly, hazel eyes blazing at the intrusion. There was only a brief moment of cotton rubbing against the inside of her skull before the classroom fell away from Claire. She had just enough time to think “Not again” before she was buried in another vision.

_The first thing that came to her attention as the vision swallowed her up was that there was loud, blaring music. It thrummed all around her, the base pulsing against her skin. Colored lights rolled across a crowd of hot and sweating bodies, a pungent cloud of cheap perfume and body spray hovering above the sex-charged dancefloor._

_The club was packed but Claire quickly spotted the figure of Emily dancing intimately close with a man in the throng of people. There was a surge of knowing within her as she realized that this man was a stranger to her classmate. The two were pickled with vodka and tequila, all eager and hungry hands roaming across each other._

_A flash burst in front of her eyes and the club faded away to a messy, meager living room of a studio apartment. Emily and her dance partner were making out, tugging at each other’s clothes on the couch. Claire swallowed thickly and tried to block it out but she had learned long ago that the image was playing in her head, not before her eyes._

_‘I don’t want to see this…’ she thought, feeling sick to her stomach._

_Her nails bit into her palms as she tried to grind the vision to a halt. But the resistance caused her head to throb to a nauseating degree. There was no indicator on whether this was an event to come or one that had already passed. Teeth clenched together uncomfortably in her mouth, the man’s mouth found its way to Emily’s neck along with his hand stealing away into the front of her pants._

_Fortunately this time she did not have to see the act for another flash of light and she was looking at Emily standing in what she assumed was her room, pacing while talking on the cell phone. A tight line was formed on her dark brows, mouth twisted into a scowl as she argued with however she was speaking with on the other line._

_“So what if I’m seeing other guys? We aren’t together anymore because you were a piece of shit and cheated on me. You don’t get to tell me how I live my life! Stop calling me, stop texting me, stop everything. If you try to contact me again I am getting a restraining order!”_

Claire was suddenly back in the classroom. Emily was gone and she blinked bemusedly. What time was it? How long had she been standing there? A nervous hand jammed into her pocket to produce her cellphone where she fumbled with the lock. All she needed was the time and date then it would all make sense. It couldn't have been more than a day, could it?

“Claire.” came Marc’s cool voice before she could unlock her phone, “You’ve been standing there for a few minutes now, I would like to get started sometime before the sun goes down.”

She shook her head, trying to clear away the memory of what she just saw, “Sorry.”

Claire took a seat next to Marc and dutifully opened her notes but quickly found herself unable to focus. For some reason today he was...annoyingly distracting. She frowned. He wasn’t even speaking, which was almost a blessing. But she couldn’t help but notice how vividly blue his eyes were. Or the slope of his jaw. Or the fullness of his mouth. In fact, Claire couldn’t help but notice that his lips looked...really kissable. She hastily looked back to her notes before he could catch her looking at him.

‘Has he always been this attractive and I just never noticed?I don’t know how I hadn’t, he’s so pretty it’s almost disarming...’ she wondered, scribbling absentmindedly in her notebook. She set her jaw and pushed those thoughts away, ‘What is wrong with you? Focus on your work.’

Claire managed to scrape together five minutes of focus before she found her mind wandering again. The last month had left her wondering just what he was. Every bone in her body was telling her that he was a Cryptic but she had no idea what kind. She wasn’t even sure if she was right since she hadn’t had a vision about it. A part of her desperately wanted to ask but what if she was wrong? Or if she was right was it even rude to ask in the first place?

‘I barely talk to other humans, let alone other Cryptics.’ she thought.

Marc sighed, “Vampire. Can you please stop whispering in my head about it now?”

The brunette jolted and looked at him, bewildered. She hadn’t said anything out loud had she? And then she noticed he had said “whispering in my head”. The color drained from her face when realization dawned on her. She had hoped that she heard that wrong.

“Wh...whispering in your head?” Claire’s voice came out strangled.

The look he gave her was one of mild annoyance, “That’s what I said, isn’t it? Do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“...you can read minds…” she murmured dumbly.

It started flowing quickly to her how many times she had thought about throwing various objects at him when he was being unbearable. She remembered how she had seriously considered bringing a squirt bottle to threaten him with if he didn’t stop being such a jerk. There was even that one time where she considered trying to lock him inside of the classroom for a few hours as petty revenge. But then her mind brought her back to how just ten or so minutes ago she had been thinking about how pretty he was.

“You can read minds!” Claire squeaked in horror, her face turning at least three different shades of red.

The smirk he gave her then made her mortification even worse. The mirth and satisfaction rolling off of him easily caused her to flush even deeper. She wanted nothing more than to go bury her head in the sand or possibly even be swallowed up by some lovecraftian creature. She had thought about his mouth! **His mouth!**

“Yes. Well done. You’ve put it all together with your brilliant deductive reasoning. Can we continue with the assignment now?”Despite his dry tone, that smirk had not budged, “That is if you are quite done thinking about my ‘kissable lips’.”

She groaned and buried her face into her hands, “I hate you…”

Marc chuckled, “You don’t have to worry. I get that all the time.”

Claire lifted her head to level another glare at him, “You are so-!”

He arched a brow, “Disarmingly attractive?”

“UGH! Just-! Just shut up! We can get to our assignment now!”

“Are you sure? Maybe you need a moment? You’re heart rate is very elevated.”

Claire punched him in the arm. It wasn’t with all of her force but it was enough to get her message across for him to stop. The impact didn’t even cause him to budge an inch and he looked at her with mild amusement. Which made everything even worse for her.

“Was that supposed to hurt me?”

She spluttered, “I- no! It’s just-”

“How is it that you have lasted this long without any kind of real guidance about Cryptics? You are a walking target, not to mention essentially helpless.”

“Helpless?!” her fingers twitched as the urge to hit him again rose, “I am not helpless!”

“Aren’t you? Could you fend me off if I decided I wanted to attack you?”

Claire hesitated. How strong even were vampires? She had never knowingly met one and her knowledge of them was less than impressive. If he had normal strength she’d take her chances but she didn’t know if it was enhanced or not because of him being a vampire. Were they faster too? She considered that it might be worth trying regardless to knock him down a few notches.

“You don’t even know the basics about vampires…” he sighed, “Very well, I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll be teaching you about Cryptics.”

“Excuse me?!” she snapped, “Why don’t you try asking me?!”

“For what reason? You lack even the fundamentals about Cryptics and clearly there is no one else suited to teach you."

“I have made it by just fine without you!” Claire folded her arms over her chest.

“A significant stroke of luck, I’m certain.”

Exasperated, she ran a hand through her hair. For the life of her she could not figure out how ladies just found him so irresistible. Her class had already discovered that Marc was not above being rude and yet they still kept coming. It was maddening. HE was maddening. What on earth did they see that made them keep coming back.

“Vampires naturally draw in humans.” Marc supplied imperiously, “Yet another basic you are missing. How have you made it this far with knowledge that doesn’t even cover the fundamentals of Cryptics?”

A great maw opened in her chest. Memories burst forth around her and Claire found herself reminded of all the days she spent inside her apartment. The constant exhaustion. The bare bones pantry that she would stretch out until she couldn’t anymore just to keep from getting around other people. Too many intrusive visions. Too many days where she would forget who she even was due to those images burying into her psyche.

“Isolation.”

That was the only answer that she gave. And that was the only answer he asked of her.


	2. Chapter 2

“Do you plan on wasting my time by staring out the window?”

Claire was jarred out of her daze and tore her gaze away from the window. Even then she blinked at the blonde vampire slowly and he scowled at her. It was almost surreal to her, sitting in a warm cafe that was bathed in filtered sunlight. For the past few years her only public outings were to the school when she couldn’t get an online course, to the grocery store and that was really the extent of it. Anything else she tried to do online, including her clothes shopping.

‘And now I’m sitting in a coffee shop that doubles as a think tank for the Cryptic community and being tutored by a vampire about vampire society.’

Marc gave her a disparaging look, “It only really counts as tutoring if you even bother to listen to what I am trying to teach you.”

“You know, usually, when tutoring happens it comes from the person voluntarily asking for it.” Claire drummed her fingers against the cup of her fresh caramel latte.

“You are well aware that your circumstances are unusual and that your ignorance could potentially get you killed.”

“I have survived this long without you.”

“A miracle in and of itself. You are an Esper and spirits are going to be naturally drawn to you.”

Claire gave him a venomous glare, “Thanks so much for that educational lesson. It’s not like I have lived my entire life having them hang around me. Oh what would I have ever done without your all superior vampire knowledge?”

“Met any potential number of gruesome deaths, no doubt.”

She could practically feel her blood boiling and she opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted, “Marc! I didn’t see you come in!”

The newcomer was a young man maybe a few years younger than her own age of twenty two and could be called “pretty” more than handsome. He was all smooth skin, voluminous blonde hair and a blinding smile that was brimming with a cheery demeanor. Claire’s anger at Marc sputtered almost completely out and she studied the man before them.

“Corvin.”

“You’re so cold.” Corvin pouted in response, “You talk like we don’t really know each other.”

Claire tilted her head slightly. There was something that was nudging at the edge of her mind. There was this growing knowledge that there was a lot more lurking beneath that cheery smile. A hush of secrets brewing beneath him. The more she focused the more she felt the faint sensation of cotton rubbing on the inside of her skull.

“Do you always make a habit of harassing customers?” Marc sighed in annoyance.

“I’m not harassing! I’m just making conversation!” bright bottle green eyes locked onto Claire, “I didn’t expect you to come here on a date! She’s pretty cute!”

Her look of curiosity evaporated then and twisted to a glare, “It’s not a date.”

To her surprise Marc had spoken at the same time she had and with her exact words. Their eyes locked for a moment and they each frowned at one another. Corvin, however, chuckled in amusement.

“You two are so cute! You’re even saying the same things!”

That feeling of cotton rubbing in her skull intensified. She tried to shake her head to clear it but as the sensation grew she realized that she was in store for a sensation that she called an “oracle”. A faint buzzing sheathed across her skin and the world seemed to fall away from her.

“I see some people never outgrow being annoying.”

Marc’s voice rang distantly in her ears, echoing faintly until all sound stopped. All she could see was Corvin and an eerie blankness settled over her mind. All at once she was barraged with an intense feeling of loneliness, an overwhelming sense of pressure from responsibility, self doubt and more guilt than she thought a person could carry.

“Your smiles warm the people drawn to you but a fake smile is not enough to warm the grave stone and responsibility you carry on your shoulders.”

Her voice had come out almost disjointed and foreign but it was still undeniably Claire who had spoken it. And it was undeniably Corvin who jumped in surprise at her spoken oracle and harshly bumped against the table. Unfortunately, her glass of ice water was too close to the edge and toppled into her lap, sloshing frigid water across her front and legs. A startled yelp escaped her and she rapidly shot up, quickly shoving the glass back onto the table and stumbled out of the booth.

She started to dry herself off with a napkin from the table but already the chill was settling into her bones. Corvin, however, was staring at her with his eyes widened in shock. Sadness then started to creep into his expression and it sent a sharp pang of guilt driving into her. She hated it when that happened. She hated that she had no control over it. And above all Claire hated how at anytime she had one of her oracles, she could be bringing up something that was potentially traumatic. Or something personal that the person may want to keep a secret.

“Sorry…” She whispered, meeting his gaze with her own.

“Cory!”

At the sound of Merle’s voice Claire went back to trying to dry her clothes. Having another person arrive made things even worse for her. And Merle’s blue eyes seemed to see more than she was really comfortable with. When he had first taken their orders it was like he could tell that she hadn’t been out like this in years. She wondered if that was how people felt around her after she had a vision or spoke an Oracle.

“How many times have I told you-” Merle trailed off when he saw Claire trying to dry the water that had soaked through her clothes, “Cory you know you aren’t supposed to be carrying dishes or glasses.”

She cleared her throat awkwardly, “Um, it actually was my glass already on the table.” she glanced at Corvin for a moment before looking back to the dark-haired wizard, “It was my fault…”

She noticed how Marc arched a brow from the table but still he said nothing. Merle also looked sceptical and studied her for a moment. “Well let’s get you cleaned up. Corvin, Aiah wants you in the kitchen. Best not to keep him waiting.”

The blonde quickly excused himself but not before he and Claire shared a somber look. Then he retreated quickly to the kitchen. Merle waved his hand, a soft glow of pale blue magic illuminating around his palm. The water dried in an instant but she still felt very cold but very grateful. Claire murmured a soft thanks and sat back into her seat, raking her teeth over her lip. Initially she had wanted to order a caprese sandwich when Merle had come back to check on them. She hadn’t eaten yet and it was already late afternoon but after the awkward moment between her and Corvin, her confidence was shaken.

“Sorry about that. He means well but he’s a bit clumsy.” Merle chuckled, “Can I get you two anything else?”

Claire ducked her head as she struggled to find her voice. But it was traitorously trapped behind her vocal cords. There were several beats of silence before she just decided that she was going to just shake her head no. Until Marc gave a sigh from across the table.

“A Caprese sandwich please.”

Her head jerked up then and she stared at him, bewildered. But then her shoulders relaxed and she gave him a grateful look. Merle, however, blinked a moment before giving Claire a reassuring smile. There was that look again, that knowing gaze like he understood exactly what was going on with her.

“I’ll get that put in for you.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat before giving him a weak smile in return. When he left she let out a quiet, relieved sigh. Still shivering from her cold bath of ice water, she clutched her latte tighter in her hands to try and soak up the warmth. A few minutes past in silence, Claire almost afraid to speak for fear another oracle would burst from her. And the fact that Marc was staring at her made it even worse.

“Thank you.” she croaked out, finally.

“It is no trouble.” He sipped his tea before casting her a curious look, “Does that happen often?”

“Often enough...Normally it’s just visions.”

“And that wasn’t a vision?”

“No. That was what I call an ‘oracle’. It was the best I could come up with. But I don’t have a vision. It’s hard to explain but essentially I...something about them comes to me. I don’t really know how it works but it doesn’t have to deal with the future. I could be something from the past. Or it could be current. And I often don’t know unless the person tells me themselves.” she looked down at her cup, tightening her grip on her caramel latte, “I hate it when I do it...”

Marc noticed her shivering, frowned and then shrugged out of his coat before handing it to her across the table. Claire blinked owlishly as she accepted it before staring at him in confusion. He arched a brow at her, annoyance creeping into his expression.

“Do I truly need to explain to you how a jacket works and what you are supposed to do with it?”

She yanked the jacket on but scowled at him as she did so, “No. But why did you offer it to me?”

“Was I supposed to just watch you shiver? Unless you don’t want the offer, I’d be happy to take my jacket back.”

She clutched the coat tighter around her, letting the fabric drape around her shoulders as she glared. It was pleasantly warm and Claire had to admit that Marc had a good taste in cologne. In fact she would almost consider it not fair for him to wear it when he could be considered distractingly attractive. When she brought her eyes back up to look at him she was met with a smug smirk.

‘Ugh. He heard all of that, didn’t he?’ she inwardly lamented.

“Be quieter about your thoughts if you wish to keep them secret.”

That smirk only seemed to widen and she bristled, “So basically think quieter is what you are saying?”

“Your intelligence is truly remarkable.”

“It's amazing you can walk with that inflated head.” She said dryly, “Doesn't that ego get heavy?”

“Vampires are the superior Cryptic, it is only  natural that I am aware of it.”

“Ugh, you are bad enough in Chemistry....How do you work out that you are just so superior?”

Marc chuckled in response and she felt herself growing irate at his amusement. Despite that pretty face, his cocky attitude often bordered on obnoxious for her. His smirk grew more and more infuriating by the second. He reclined easily in the booth as warm sunlight washed over the two of them.

“Between the two of us, I’m not the one who struggles with control of my abilities.”

She felt a spike of fury drive through her chest, “Says the man who whines about me thinking too loudly.”

The smirk slipped from his face, “I was not whining. And I cannot help that you have an obnoxious habit of overthinking and doing so at such a volume.”

“Ohhh I’m sorry. That wasn’t you whining? I will file that away for the future. Definitely not you whining, nope.”

He narrowed his eyes, “You are angry.”

“And here I thought you were supposed to be smart. Did you work that out all by yourself?”

“If what I said truly bothers you then you can work to be better, can you not?”

“Yes but…” she ground her teeth, “There is no completely controlling my Clairvoyance. If a vision wants to happen, there is no stopping it. The most I can ever do is learn how to have one on command.”

Whether she liked it or not, she would be stuck with these visions for the rest of her life. Most Espers have a chance to master their powers but her progress would always be limited. Claire scowled at her coffee, as if it were the one responsible for her situation. It felt unfair to her that she didn’t get the chance to fully control it when other Espers could control their abilities.

Marc’s mouth quirked into a small smile, “And that is why vampires are superior. Any one of us can master our abilities.”

His superiority was extremely grating. Grating enough that she glared at him and tried to think as loudly as she could her dumping his cup of tea on him. Claire didn’t plan on doing it but the thought of doing it was extremely satisfying for her. In response, Marc picked up his cup of tea, smirked at her from over the rim and took a long, slow sip. His eyes, vivid blue, never broke from hers and hers never broke from his.

One day, she decided, she was going to wipe that smirk off of his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter but I hope it's ok! OwO

“Sorry, I won’t be able to stay today.”

Marc looked up at Claire from his seat, blue eyes narrowing into a glare. She swallowed the lump in her throat but stood her ground. This reaction was about what she expected although she had wanted to drop the news on him at the end of class. But Marc had been quick to leave, forcing her to tell him in the empty classroom they liked to use.

“This is the third time in a row.” He told her flatly.

“I’ve been busy.”

“So have I and yet I still make time to be here.”

Claire adjusted her bag higher onto her shoulder, “Well unlike some people here, I’m not a rich kid and I have bills to pay…”

Bills that were piling up. She had spent almost all of what was left in her meager bank account to keep her power on. Her previous job contract was up and she was scrambling to find a replacement. But she shoved all of that down, not wishing for Marc to hear.

His eyes grazed over her figure before he arched a brow, “You’re thinner.”

“Thanks? I guess?”

“That wasn’t a compliment. It was an observation.”

She glared, “Ok. And what do you expect me to say to your observation?”

Marc studied her for a moment before rising to his feet. She always knew that he was taller than her but this time his height was almost intimidating. Claire paused to consider bolting down the hallway to avoid his incoming questions.

“Don’t.” was his warning growl.

His tone was so intense that Claire hesitated. That was enough time for him to seize her by the wrist and haul her into the classroom. She squawked indignantly as she had no choice but to be dragged in, staggering on shaky legs. When he closed the door with a resounding ‘click’ she knew she was in for an interrogation.

“You haven’t eaten today, have you?”

Her heart skipped a beat, “What makes you think that?”

“When was the last time you ate something?” He persisted, ignoring her question.

Claire tried to pull away but Marc pressed her against the wall. She was effectively trapped and she could tell that she would not be able to overpower him to free herself. And based on the expression of his face, he had no intention of letting her go until he got his answers.

She squirmed, “Marc! Let me go!”

He took hold of her other arm and pushed her more firmly against the wall, “When was the last time you ate?” Marc repeated, blue eyes boring into hers.

Claire deflated, “I had an apple yesterday.”

“Let me be clearer: When was the last time you ate  **properly** ?”

“...Four days ago.”

His expression was thunderous, “Why on earth have you not eaten?”

“Because I’m broke!” She hissed, “I had to make a choice: groceries or my water and power bill!”

“You have not lost weight like this just from a few days.”

Claire sighed exasperatedly, “Rich kids...You just don’t get it! This isn’t just a one time thing! Every month is a constant weighing of what I need more! It’s like that for a lot of us who are poor. The fact is a lot of my ability to pay bills sometimes comes down to cutting back on food.”

His grip laxed marginally, “Do you not have a job?”

“Hah! As a college student with no degree yet? How good of a job could I get? I help build databases and code on contract. IF I get a contract. But without a degree it’s hard to find someone who will give me a chance…” she trembled momentarily in his grasp, “And where else can I go besides online work? What employer is going to take some weird girl who suddenly stares off into space, spouts highly personal information about the people she’s talking to, can’t drive and-” she cut herself off abruptly, biting her lip, “Just...even when I’m working money is tight, ok? I have to make what I have last until I find something new.”

Marc released her then, “Have you not tried asking the Agency?”

Such a simple solution and she had never thought of it. The only Cryptic she had known was her grandmother and she had made it out like mostly everything was done by magic. Would they even take her without a degree? Would it be an internship? Would she get paid? How would she even start? Claire wasn’t even sure how to contact them in the first place.

“You really know nothing about our world.” He stared at her for a moment before sighing, “I will help you.”

“Wh-why?”

There was a moment of silence between them. Crystalline blue eyes locked with dark mahogany ones as they each considered each other. He seemed so standoffish most of the time that Claire found it unbelievable that he was even offering to help her. That he even cared to begin with. And even cared enough to notice that she hadn’t eaten that day.

Full lips curled into a wry smile, “Because if you fail and drop out then more people will come bother me. As it stands most of the class thinks you are a strange girl and they want to avoid you.”

“Ugh. You’re a real charmer. Can I go now?”

“Absolutely not. There is no reason for you to leave now, I have said I will help you approach the Agency.”

“But-”

“In fact, we will not be studying here.”

“I never said I agreed to this!” she snapped as he gathered up his things.

“I never phrased it as a question.”

Claire folded her arms across her chest, “What are you planning to force me?”

Silence greeted her and Marc narrowed his eyes, a smirk quirking on his mouth. He wouldn’t, would he? His smile almost became wolfish as it widened. Claire suppressed her urge to gulp and considered her options. She realized he was quite serious about forcing her and he had already demonstrated how she could not physically out muscle him. After not eating properly in four days she didn’t really trust her legs to support her in a run.

“You know kidnapping is illegal, right?” she finally said.

“So then don’t make me force you and save us both some time.”

In the end Claire decided that it was just easier to go along with it. And would be less embarrassing than her being hauled across the school campus by the grumpy rich kid. So Marc marched her outside with his stupid smug face, to his stupid expensive car and made her sit inside while he pulled out his stupid expensive phone to make some call. When he finished his call, he drove them both to the Murder. Feeling far too exhausted to argue further with him, she shuffled after him inside.

They had barely sat down when their table was approached by Merle who was carrying a tray. Claire found herself blinking owlishly when he set a rather large sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup in front of her. He also set down a large glass of water and a cup of freshly brewed Earl Grey tea for Marc.

Merle chuckled at her expression, “He ordered ahead for you two. And he insisted that it be ready in fifteen minutes.”

Claire gave her vampire companion a long, suffering look, to which he only twitched his mouth slightly but stared her down. She was bewildered and couldn’t understand why would do this. And then to top it off not even let them just ready the meal without the specific time frame. She lasted four days, she could wait another thirty minutes.

The Wizard grinned, “Don’t be too mad, he was just worried about you.”

He laughed when Marc threw him a scathing look. Merle held up his hands in mock surrender, a mischievous smile quirked across his lips, “Alright, alright! I’ll leave you two be!”

Silence swept over the two of them. Claire’s stomach gurgled loudly at her as she stared at her plate of food. Food that she certainly couldn’t afford splurge on yet. And food that her pride couldn’t afford to willingly let Marc pay for. She swallowed the nausea creeping up her throat as memories burned in her bones.

_ “You won’t be able to do it on your own. You’ll come crying back to us eventually.” _

With a white knuckled grip, Claire clenched her fists in her lap. The hunger was so deep in her it felt like it was seeping into her nerves. But she couldn’t find it in her to just accept this gesture. It felt like failure. It felt like she couldn’t do it on her own. She gritted her teeth and tried not to think how far she had fallen in the last few years if she had come to think of taking a sandwich as a failure.

“Stop.” Marc pinned her with a hard stare from across the table, “Relying on people who  _ actually _ care about you is normal. It is not any reflection of failure on your part.”

Her heart squeezed tightly in her chest and her eyes burned. When was the last time she had heard anything like that? She swallowed thickly. When was the last time anyone gave a damn about her at all? Determined not to cry in front of Marc, she shoved down her rising emotions.

“Is this you telling me that you care about me, Mr. Loewe?” She laughed, forcefully.

“Hmmm.”

Marc said nothing more and cooly sipped his tea, leveling her with a dry expression over the rim. Her smile was thin and shaky but it was filled with appreciation. Claire looked down at her meal for a moment before mumbling a very soft thanks and tore into the sandwich. She ate in silence, her expression distant and contemplative.

“I didn’t realize that you couldn’t drive.”

Claire nearly choked on her sandwich. It was a fair question for most people. Anyone would be curious about it but the answer was more personal than she really wanted to answer. She didn’t even want to think about it and tried to think of a way she could redirect the conversation.

“Pretending or changing the topic will not make your problems go away.” Marc told her imperiously.

She swallowed thickly. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. And in the end it didn’t even make it easier. Claire hesitated as she debated over telling him. There weren’t many people who knew why and the ones who did now were not told by her. Claire bit her lip and bounced her leg as she considered her options.

“To drive you have to have a car and be able to pay for it.” she finally said.

He did not look convinced, “Is that real reason?”

“...Yes.”

Marc arched a brow at her skeptically. But Claire held fast and said nothing else on it. She didn’t care if he believed it or not as long as he didn’t ask her anymore questions about it. She just couldn’t say it. Not yet. Quickly she took a spoonful of soup and tried to focus on the blend of flavors to pull her thoughts away to something else.

‘Sorry Marc.’ She thought, shaking hand guiding another bite of soup to her mouth, ‘I can’t explain to you what it means to be a prisoner of your body. Not yet.’


	4. Chapter 4

She wasn’t sure when it had happened but somewhere along the way of his tutoring Claire had started understanding the material better. Her scores had started coming back improved by a letter grade and their study sessions were moving much smoother. As she went through the work sheet about electron configuration, she couldn’t help but think that as much as she hated to admit it, Marc had really helped her improve in Chemistry.

“Of course I did. You had me helping you and you had such a laughable lack of understanding of the subject that the only thing you could possibly do was improve.”

Claire looked up to glare at him but he only maintained that infuriating smug smirk. Anytime he gave her that look it got under her skin. But it was distressing for her to realize that her heart rate would spike less and less from anger and more and more from something else. 

“Ugh yes, yes, my improvement in this class is because of your tutoring and oh what would little old me would have ever done without you?”

“Failed, without a doubt.”

“Don’t make me push you out of that chair.” She grumbled.

“You would fail.” 

“I’m not sure of that. I’m determined.”

“I’m a vampire.” He deadpanned.

“I think you are underestimating me.”

Blue eyes glittered with mirth at her, a corner of his full lips quirking, “I don’t think I am. But it would be entertaining to watch you try.”

Claire growled and reached out to shove him roughly. She had thought that Marc was just going to let her try and watch her fail at moving him but he clearly had other ideas. He easily took both of her wrists in his hands and pulled them out to the side. The brunette squirmed in his grasp but it didn’t budge in the slightest. The smugness rolled off of him in waves which made her struggle more.

It took distressingly little effort for him to tug her from her seat, forcing her to stand to keep from falling over. Another pull and Claire was forced to bend over, her face shockingly close to his. Marc’s blue eyes bore into hers, earning a spike in her heart rate. That infuriating smirk was back on his face and she glared at him venomously.

“Underestimating you? It would seem not.” He lightly squeezed her wrists, “Now tell me, what were you planning on doing with your inevitable failure?” His voice drawled, making her clench her jaw.

Claire felt herself turning red from both anger and his proximity, “...you can let me go now…”

His smirk widened, “Should I? You are the one who started this, after all.”

“You’re the one who provoked me!”

“Perhaps you should endeavor to not be so reactive.”

“Ugh just let me go, Marc!” Claire exclaimed, her face beet red.

The vampire chuckled lowly but loosened his grip, allowing her to slide free from his hold. She tried to shove down the shudder that rolled through her as his fingers grazed her wrists. Claire staggered backwards, rubbing her wrists and settled back down into her chair. She was acutely aware that he did not even need to stand up to overpower her. As a result, she pushed her chair away slightly, feeling her heart hammering in her chest.

“That distance would do nothing to help you against a vampire.”

Her face was still red and she was nearly trembling. Marc pulling her in like that...being brought so close to him, full lips curled into a smirk. Lips that should not be that kissable. He should not be able to so easily overpower her. Claire made another push with her legs and pushed the chair a little bit further away.

Marc laughed again, “There is no where in this room you could be and still be safe from me if I had decided that I wanted to attack you.”

“You are not making a good case for me sitting close to you…”

“Scared?”

Scared? Not in the way that he was implying. Claire was unnerved by how she felt being so close to him. Was a bit shaken at how she had thought about how kissable his lips are. She was put at unease by the thought of his fingertips trailing across her skin. Claire noticed that she was trembling very finely to her dismay. 

‘I’m not just going to let him bully me!’ she thought irately, trying to will her limbs to still, ‘Even though...he’s already successfully done that.’

When he chuckled, she squeaked indignantly, “You’re reading my mind!”

“It is impossible not to when you are practically screaming your thoughts so loudly.”

“I don’t even understand how I am supposed to ‘think quieter’ as you put it.”

“There’s something you don’t understand? I’m shocked.” Marc quipped, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “What you do and don’t understand is not my responsibility.”

Claire scowled but stood, dragging her chair closer to him so they could continue their school work, “Says the guy who insisted that he had to teach me about Cryptics and would not take no for an answer.”

Marc arched an eyebrow at her, “It would be unfortunate for you to be murdered because you were too ignorant of our world to protect yourself. If you were gone I would be forced to gain a new and likely more annoying partner to take your place.”

She narrowed her eyes, “More annoying? Are you saying I am annoying?!”

His answer was a smirk and a quiet laugh. Heat flushed her cheeks as Claire sputtered indignantly at him. Annoying? He was the annoying one! 

“Maybe I’ll just go ask The Murder crew for information about the cryptic world…” Claire muttered cantankerously, attempting to go back to her worksheet.

“ **No** .”

He’d said that word so firmly that she jerked her head up in surprise to look at him once more. All traces of amusement and humor had vanished from Marc’s face. His expression was severe and it caused Claire to blink owlishly at him in confusion.

“I mean...aren’t they the cryptic think tank? They have all of the information in this world.”

“Not for free. They offer their services but their payments can be quite high.”

She noticed how his brows knitted together in what looked suspiciously like concern. Worry. Claire wasn’t expecting that from him but if Marc looked this serious about it then it must be worth listening to. Her restless hand drifted up to toy with a lock of hair when a heavy silence fell between them.

“Well,” She declared clearing her throat, “You won’t have to worry. I don’t really have money anyways.”

Marc’s frown deepened, “They don’t ask for money...Avoid business with them if you can. If you absolutely must approach them for something, come to me. I’ll make sure you won’t be taken advantage of.”

“I...thank you.” Claire cleared her throat awkwardly, “On the note of money...I should really thank you. The agency contacted me and they have given me a part time job. I’ll still have to hunt for contracts in addition to that part time work to make ends meet but I won’t be completely scrambling when a contract is done. And they’ve promised me a full time position once I have completed my degree. So...seriously thank you.”

“It was necessary. If I hadn’t done anything you would continue starving yourself.”

“Not by choice!” she exclaimed in exasperation.

Marc narrowed his eyes, “You could have said something before it got to that point.”

“Oh yes. Sure. Tell my grumpy classmate and work partner who seemed to want to have little to do with me that I’m so broke I can’t afford food.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. If I truly wanted nothing to do with you then we wouldn’t be partners and I wouldn’t have agreed to help teach you about Cryptics.”

‘You say “agreed” like I even asked you in the first place…’ she thought. The corner of his mouth twitched, leaving her to snap, “Stop doing that!”

Marc looked at her for a moment and she was convinced that he was going to tease her more. But as he studied her, the playful quirk of his lips slipped. Claire blinked bemusedly, staring back at him in confusion.

“Have you eaten today?” He finally asked.

“Yes…”

His eyes narrowed, “Have you eaten  _ properly _ today?”

Claire shifted in her seat, “...What’s your definition of ‘properly’?”

The vampire let out a long sigh before fixing her with an irate glare. She smiled sheepishly in hopes to placate him but she could already see the wheels in his head turning. They sat in silence for several moments. Marc broke it first, rising from his seat and putting his books away.

“Wait, we have to finish the assignment!” she protested.

“We can finish it at The Murder.”

His tone was clipped and cool and clearly communicated that he was not going to hear anything to the contrary. Claire was shocked to find herself not annoyed with this development. No, instead she was pleasantly warm and she felt her heart stuttering it’s own staggered rhythm in her chest. For a few moments it felt nice but then it twisted around into her mind’s traitorous whisper. What was the catch? No one just did nice things without motivation. 

Claire had been absently gathering her stuff, mind slowly shifting through the possibilities that he could ask from her in repayment. Her logical side tried to point out that Marc wouldn’t do that. Tried to point out that he wasn’t that kind of person. But the idea had taken hold and so she hesitated before following him. A lump formed in her throat when he paused in the doorway, turning to look back at her with an arched brow. 

“I...I can’t pay you back anytime soon…”

“Did you think I was doing this expecting you to?” he asked sharply.

“Well I just…”

Her voice died in her throat. When had it been different? When had anyone not expected her to pay for the help that they provided? Not since her grandmother who was dead. Marc seemed to sense her turmoil and stepped closer to her, less than an arm’s length away. He reached out and took a gentle hold on her shoulder, carefully tugging her a bit closer.

“I’m not doing this because I’m expecting you to pay me back. This isn’t something I will hold over your head later.”

Claire felt her lower lip tremble and her eyes burn. She studied him carefully, trying to look for any lie from him. But his blue eyes held hers, unwavering, brows drawn tightly. After a few moments of staring, she determined that he was completely serious in his statement. She turned her face downwards as her dark eyes began to water, her fists clenched tightly by her sides.  

“Thank you…” she choked out in a hoarse whisper.

Kindness...it hurt. Why did it hurt? And if it was so painful, why did she need it so much?


End file.
